Stewart and Riddell, the team behind the popular Edge Chronicles, introduce a new series and hero in this shivery mystery-horror hybrid, the first in the Barnaby Grimes series. Barnaby is a tick-tock lad (a sort of messenger) who is happiest traipsing about his Londonesque city in a manner known as highstacking: "leaping from gutter to gable, pillar to pediment-roof to roof-with the arrogant agility of a courting tomcat." During a jaunt about town on a full moon he runs afoul of a vicious wolflike creature, an encounter that leads him to a suspiciously benevolent doctor administering a special tonic to a select group of poor, infirm, and forgotten wretches. Moody, highly detailed pen-and-ink drawings provide ornamentation throughout, lending a classic Victorian feel to help punctuate the drama. Possessing an easy confidence and quick wit, outfitted with a swordstick and stovepipe hat, and nimble as the wind, Barnaby is an appealing character sure to draw readers back to the next installment, due next spring, of what promises to be a rousing series.